Adventures of a Half Demon
by the-wandering-scribe
Summary: To save the life of his precious person, Naruto made a deal with the Kyuubi to turn them both into half-demons. They ran away from the village to avoid being killed, and were picked up by the least likely of teachers and taken to a new home. Naru/OC
1. Chapter 1

_Adventures of a Half-Demon_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, etc, but I do own my OCs, as well as Asahigakure.**

A/N: Since I'm currently rewriting my other story ''The Desert Fox', I began this story because I wanted something new to work on.

---------------------Begin Story: LoHD Ch.1----------------------

Naruto's eyes went wide as he realized that his friend was about to die. Being beaten by mobs was nothing new to him, but his friend had never been around when he had been mobbed before. Now that she had been caught with him, she was going to be killed, and it was his fault. He struggled against the person restraining him, but it was no use; being only ten years old, he was no match for the older chunin that were attacking them. Naruto watched in horror as his friend, Rai, was restrained by one of them as another drew his sword. The swordsman started to run towards her, when everything slowed down.

The chunin took one step, in slow motion, and a red, demonic aura started to encase Naruto, causing his canines and nails to extend into fangs and claws. His pupils changed into slits like those of a cat's, and his eye color started to bleed into red.

|Flashback|

Naruto was hiding behind a row of tall bushes to avoid a mob, when he saw someone coming up to him in a crouched position. It was a silver haired girl with blue eyes and pale skin that looked to be about his age. When she reached him she sat down at his side, facing him.

"Hi," she said, "my name's Rai, who are you?"

"I'm Naruto," Naruto whispered, "please don't be too loud, I don't want the villagers to find me."

"Why not? Do they not like you?" the girl whispered.

"No, they've always hated me, and they always beat me when they catch me." Naruto paused as he seemed to think of something, then leaned over towards her, "you should leave, if they see you with me, they might attack you too."

"I'm not worried about it," she replied, "besides, you look lonely; I want to be your friend. It's not good to be alone in the world, and you look like too nice of a person to be without at least one friend."

Naruto's eyes started to water, "you really want to be my friend?"

She just smiled at him and answered a simple "Yup."

|End Flashback|

The guy took another step and started to raise his sword above his head, prepared to behead her. Naruto was now covered in red chakra, which gave him the appearance of a fox, and appeared to be in a blind rage. He bit down on the arm of the person holding him, before smashing his hand through the person's chest and crushing his heart. He turned around and, without a moment's pause, started to run towards the guy that was about to kill his friend.

|Flashback|

Rai was sitting on his bed beside him after a particularly bad beating, keeping him company. She had been the one that had to carry him all the way home, as he had just now regained consciousness.

"Rai," he began sadly, "I have something to tell you; I just found out why the villagers hate me."

"Why?" Rai asked.

"Well, it seems that when I was a baby, I had one of the most powerful demons in the world sealed into me, one that almost destroyed the village. I didn't want to tell anyone, but you're my friend, so I thought you deserved to know. I'll understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore though, after all who would want to be friends with someone who contains a demon?"

Rai wrapped Naruto in a hug, "don't be silly, when I came to this village, I was alone, and I found you alone and without a friend too. Since then you've become a brother to me, it'll take a lot more than a demon to change that."

Naruto smiled, "thanks Rai."

|End Flashback|

The guy tried to bring his sword down on her head, but instead felt his wrist being caught by a smaller hand.

"Get outta my way demon." the swordsman shouted, "I want you to watch as I kill your little slut."

"No." an enraged Naruto yelled, the Kyuubi's voice starting to bleed into his, "you won't touch my friend!"

The swordsman tried to throw a punch at Naruto, only to have it blocked, and to have Naruto jump onto him and bite down on his throat, ripping at it with his fangs. The swordsman struggled, but quickly succumbed to death. Naruto looked around to see his friend laying on the ground and the last of the three running off.

"I'm sorry Rai, I should have never gotten you into this," Naruto cried.

"Don't worry, it's not your fault," Rai replied, coughing up blood.

It was at that moment that reality sank into Naruto. His friend, the girl who had become his sister by everything but blood, was going to die there, even though he had saved her from the guy's sword. All he did was grant her a slow death in stead of a fast one.

_'Kit'_ a deep voice boomed throughout his head, _'if you want to save her I can save her for you, but it will require turning you both into half demons. Put your hands on her shoulders.' _

"Rai, the Kyuubi can save you, but it will mean that we will be turned partly into a demon, and you'll be shunned like me. Do you want to do that?" Naruto nervously asked.

Rai smiled weakly, "if it means not having to leave you here alone then sure. Go ahead."

Naruto put his hands on her shoulders. "Okay, fox now what?"

_'Now all you have to do is try not to scream too loud' _the Kyuubi said as he started to change their bodies, _'you know kit, you're lucky. If you two had been a year older this wouldn't have worked. After this you should have increased strength, speed, chakra reserves, and will be able to use techniques that use yokai, or demonic energy, instead of chakra. You'll also be the newest members of the Kitsune Clan.'_

True to what the Kyuubi had said, he felt a burning and it was all he could do to not cry out loud enough for the village to hear him. After it was over, he collapsed beside her. He weakly managed to push himself up, and looked down at her, swishing his tails back and forth. Wait, tails? Naruto looked back and found that he had two black bushy tails with white tips. Looking back at Rai, he found she had two silver fox ears at the top of her head, and a single silver tail. She stirred a little and groaned in her sleep.

"I've got to get you out of here before they try to kill us again," Naruto said as he picked her up and did his best to run towards the gates of the village. When he got there he saw two guards on duty. Sighing and hoping for the best, he hid his tails and walked up to them.

"Halt, demon" the closest guard shouted, "what business do you have here?"

"I'm leaving the village for good," Naruto answered, "I don't have a pass though."

"Well," the guard smiled and looked at his partner, "OPEN THE GATES! I think we can make an exception for you two on the condition that I don't have to see you in the village again."

"Thanks, and don't worry, I'm gone for good." Naruto walked through the gates and ran off into the woods. After a short while, Naruto had to set Rai down because he was too tired to go any farther. Just then Rai started to stir again.

"Where are we?" she tiredly asked.

"Somewhere in the forests outside of the village."

"Oh." Rai giggled, "your tails are cute."

Naruto blushed a little, "thanks, and I like your new ears."

Rai reached up and touched her ears, only to find they were no longer there, so Naruto guided her hands to the top of her head. "Cool. Well why don't we get some rest, you look tired."

"Sure," Naruto said, laying down beside her. Soon they both drifted off into sleep.

----------------------break-----------------------------------

A young looking woman muttered to herself as she made her way through the forests of fire country. There were a couple reasons why she was not happy, one of them being that her village was making her take on a gennin team even though she was only a fresh jounin and this would be her first team. The second was that she was _supposed_ to be picking two of her team members, but she had gotten lost on the way there. Grumbling, she took out a map of the area.

"Let's see," she muttered, "Pine tree, Pine tree, Pine tree, Oak tree... Ah! Here we are, the big willow tree, which means that..." she trailed off as she looked over her map to see a young blond haired boy and silver haired girl laying on the ground a yard in front of her. She sweat dropped, "how did I not notice those two before?"

Just then, Naruto began to stir. Looking around, he saw a woman that looked to be about 20, with green hair, gray ears that resembled those of a wolf, and five gray tails that looked like his, but were a bit different. She had brown eyes, was wearing a loose black shirt with baggy black cargo pants, and was holding a map. Though Naruto was comforted a bit by the fact that this person was like him and Rai, he was a little suspicious.

"Hello," the woman said while putting away the map, "good, you've woken up. My name's Mai, who are you?"

"My name's Naruto," Naruto said as he pushed himself into a sitting position, "and this is Rai. Are you a half demon too?"

"Yes, but please use the term hanyou. Half demon sounds like someone about to rip out your throat. Anyways, I've been sent by my village to retrieve you two and bring you back to my village with me."

"What do you mean you've been sent to retrieve us? How'd you even know we exist?" Naruto asked.

"The Kitsune Clan sensed another two people being initiated into their clan by becoming fox hanyous, so I was sent to get you two, especially since you live in Konoha. That place is the worst possible area that one of our type can live."

"So, that's what the Kyuubi meant when he said we were the newest members of the Kitsune Clan," Naruto muttered.

"Kyuubi, eh? I was wondering what happened to him." Mai commented.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, a confused look on his face.

"Well, one day about ten years ago, he left on a mission to track down the founder of the Uchiha clan, and then he disappeared." Mai explained, "Next thing we knew he attacked Konoha."

"So the Kyuubi is actually a good guy?" Naruto asked.

"Yup," Mai answered, "besides, he saved you, when, if he was evil, he could have just escaped as you were dying. So, what do you say, wanna come back with me and become a ninja?"

"No one will beat us or make fun of us will they?"

At this question, Mai felt an anger at what the child must've had to go through swell up inside her, "nope, in fact, most people are like us."

"Ok then, let's go," Naruto announced, "I'll have to carry my friend though until she wakes up."

"Don't worry," Mai responded, "I'll carry her for you."

As they ran across the forest floor (because Mai said she didn't like to run through the trees if she didn't have to) they talked about what the village was like. "Well," Mai started, "the village is made up of four major clans, the Kitsune, or fox, clan, the Ookami, or wolf, clan, the Tanuki clan, and the Dragon clan. There is also a clan of humans called the Hyuuga clan. They have special eyes that can see forms of energy such as chakra, which makes them excellent healers and fighters."

"Wow, I thought the Hyuuga clan was only in Konoha," Naruto replied.

"Nope, though I bet they don't want to admit that they aren't the only ones left. Konoha's branch of the Hyuuga clan was a segment of the Hyuuga family that would eventually come to settle with us that was exiled for practices of slavery, among other things. They are probably a lot different than the ones with us after so many generations apart, so you may be surprised."

-------------------4 hours later-------------------------

Rai had woken up about three hours ago and the three of them had just arrived in the village. They were only able to see it once Mai had shown them how to activate a special eye trait the Kitsune Clan had, which gave them the ability to see through all forms of illusion.

"You have the eye trait too, but you look like a wolf," Naruto quietly began, "so are you a fox or a wolf?"

"Both, my mom was a wolf hanyou, and my father was a fox demon," she answered, "now, we have to take you to the leader of the village to get you two listed as gennin. It's probably a little bit early to have you guys out on the battlefield, but you've already had two years of academy and we still have a month to train before we pick up our third member, so I'm not worried about it." As they walked towards the large tower in the center of town, they saw a woman with long black hair and silver eyes, who was wearing a gray dress and a black shirt with a silver seven tailed wolf on it. Her sharp canines became visible when she smiled and waved at Mai.

"Hey Mai-chan," she called out, before disappearing and ending up beside them, "these two on your team?"

"Yup," Mai smiled, "I don't think they've had any training yet, so I'm going to be training them until the end of the month when the academy lets out. Mom, this is Naruto and Rai; Naruto-kun, Rai-chan, this is My mom, Kyoko."

"Hello Kyoko-san" Naruto and Rai called.

"Hello Naruto-kun, Rai-chan," Kyoko replied. Kyoko looked back towards Mai, "will they be staying with us or the Kitsune?"

"I think they are staying with the Kitsune clan. I'll ask when we see the leader, though."

"Well, I'll let you go register these two and get them their equipment. Why don't you bring Naruto-kun and Rai-chan by later for dinner, so they can meet the rest of our clan."

"Okay. Well, I've got to get these two to Kenji-sama, so I'll see you later," Mai said as she turned around and started walking away.

"Bye Kyoko-san," Naruto and Rai chimed, before following Mai.

"See you three later," Kyoko said as she disappeared.

"Wow," Naruto started, "your mom seems really nice."

"Yeah, she is," Mai answered, "of course most people in the village are nicer to people, especially outsiders, than other villages are. Also, the wolf clan is one of the friendliest bunches of people around." Mai looked up to see their destination a block ahead of them. "Hey, I'll race you two to the tower!"

"You're on!" Naruto shouted.

"Sure," Rai agreed, and with that the three all took off running towards the building.

------------------Break-------------------------

In the top room of the tower sat a thin, brown haired man that had brown eyes and a large pair of brown wings that matched his eye and hair color. If he were standing up, a large reptilian tail of similar color would become visible. He appeared to be in his early thirties, and had no facial hair to speak of. He turned on the large TV hanging on the wall in front of his desk to watch the tower's surveillance camera and sighed, rubbing his temples and watching his newest jounin arguing with her two students about who got to the tower first. As much of a headache as it was, it was the reason that he chose her to be their sensei. With a case such as this, where the boy was rescued from a village that was abusing him, a sensei with her personality would be best to ensure that they grew up normally.

Just then, he was broken out of his thoughts by the door opening. "Welcome back, Mai-san, and welcome to the 'Hidden village of the Hanyou' you two. My name is Kenji."

Naruto sweat dropped, "that's the best name you could come up with for your village? No wonder you hide from everyone."

"Uh," Kenji stuttered, "well... we're a relatively young village, only having existed for fifty years or so, so we haven't gotten around to making a name yet."

"You've been around for fifty years and still don't have a name?" Naruto smiled, "that's why everyone just calls you 'leader', you haven't come up with a -kage name for yourself yet!" Naruto started laughing, while the nameless kage just started poking his fingers together in a very Hinata like manner.

"Well I have an idea," Rai piped in, "you could call yourself the Asahikage, and the village Asahigakure."

Kenji thought about this for a moment before answering, "village hidden by the morning sun, I like it, Asahigakure it is."

"See how easy that was?"Naruto joked.

"Well, I guess the people in this village just aren't creative enough," came Kenji's reply, "but anyway, here is your equipment. Senbon, kunai, shuriken, and a main weapon of your choice from the armory, as well as heat reflective and cut resistant clothes, and a pack to carry supplies in. Now, since you three and your last team mate will be entering the chuunin exams in two and a half years representing the village, you have to wear hitai-ate to show your affiliation to the village. Which colors would you like?"

"Midnight Blue," Rai answered.

"Dark Red," was Naruto's choice.

"What? We have to wear one of those ugly things?" Mai huffed, but then gave her choice, "greenish-brown."

Kenji picked three blank white headbands with metal plates on them and channeled chakra into each one before tossing it to its new owner, "and yes Mai-san, you do have to wear it. Now then, since you two have all your basic gear, you're set. Mai-san, would you show them to the armory to get them their main weapons?"

Mai pouted, before turning around and starting to leave, but she quickly brightened up, "hey, come on you two, let's go see what kind of cool weapons you'll get."

After they had left, Kenji just sighed, "children. So much more trouble than they're worth."

--------------------break---------------------

When they arrived at the weapons shop, Naruto and Rai were looking around in amazement at the amount of weapons that the shop had.

"What kind of weapon do you use Mai-sensei?" Naruto asked.

Mai pulled out a weapon that looked like a curved hatchet with a spike coming out of the back of the head from a loop on the back of her pants leg and showed it to Naruto. "I use two pair of throwing axes," she replied.

"Wow," said Naruto in amazement.

"Welcome to the Armory," echoed a voice that appeared to come from nowhere. Naruto started to look around the room trying to find whoever it was that greeted them, when suddenly a gust picked up and a woman with blue hair, eyes, wings, and a blue reptilian tail landed in front of them. "I assume that you two are here for your primary weapons?"

"Yes, ma'am," Rai replied. "Um, do all people that are half dragon have the same colored eyes, hair wings, and tail?"

"Yes, they do," the woman said, turning around and leading them into one of the inner rooms of the building. "Unlike what some people may think, and what most other villages practice, the first weapon that you receive is always the best. This is because you and your weapon must share a partnership together for the rest of your lives."

The woman closed her eyes and seemed to meditate, then, with her eyes still closed, walked to the wall and took down a weapon from it. Appearing to focus harder, she walked to a different wall and took down a second weapon before returning to where Naruto and Rai were. "Naruto and Rai, right?"

"Yeah," Naruto said, "how did you know?"

"I knew because your weapons told me when they chose you," she replied.

"_They_ chose _us?_" Naruto asked disbelievingly.

"Yup, here, take them," she said placing them on the ground.

Naruto reached down, almost instinctively grabbing the one that looked like a staff with a curved dagger size blade at the top. He examined it, noticing that the staff part of it was painted such a shiny black that it could be used as a perfect mirror. He closed his eyes, and when he did he saw a black cat standing before him, looking back at him.

"Who are you?" he asked, squatting down to get a closer look at the cat. After a moment, he started to see an image of his new weapon superimpose itself over the cat. "So are you the spirit of my weapon?" he asked, to which the cat flicked its tail and purred.

Meanwhile, Rai was also examining her weapon. It was an older looking scythe, with a dark wooden handle and a blade that also looked ancient, but even though it seemed to be at least a hundred years old, it was still in as good of shape as it was when it was first crafted. She ran her hand over the flat part of the blade and closed her eyes, and suddenly she was in an ancient looking cemetery.

Looking around, she could see mausoleums, giant stone crosses, and smaller, but ornate headstones decorating the cemetery, and looking down, she saw that she was standing in front of an unmarked grave. Sitting on top of the grave, was a raven that stood about a foot tall. It let out a screech, and she fell to her knees with her hands tightly holding the sides of her head. Now she was in a decrepit old house, watching a image of herself hanging from a noose, with blood running out of her mouth and empty eye sockets. Rai gasped and a tear ran down her cheek, watching as a crow sitting on top of the phantom's head ate one of her eyeballs. Suddenly letter made of blood, her blood, she noted, appeared on the wall behind the body. The letters read "The fear of death is your enemy, and if you let it enter your heart it will signal your immanent demise. You are worthy to step through the gate and have your eyes opened."

Suddenly there was a flash of light and she was standing in the cemetery again, only the raven wasn't there anymore. Rai heard a caw, and looked to see the raven sitting on top of a headstone inside of an inner part of the cemetery, a part that she had to step through an arched gate to get to. She walked through the gate, and when she did a wind started to blow, kicking up dust off of the graves. The graves were aligned in three circles around a large dead tree. The first circle had nine graves, the next circle had eighteen graves, and the final circle had thirty six graves in it. The raven called again and flew onto a branch of the tree, where it stood looking at her, as if daring her to come. Following it, she entered the circle, where she noticed that the dust was starting to blow in a circle around her, and made her way to the tree. When she had sat down on the branch beside the raven, she looked out into the area beyond the cemetery and saw a huge dead forest containing trees similar to the one that she was sitting on. There was no grass, and as far as the eye could see, the sky was a dark overcast.

Slowly, Rai opened her eyes to the real world, and looked around to see Naruto looking at at her confusedly and somewhat worriedly, and the clerk giving her an amused look. "So, I take it that you're both satisfied with your weapons?"

Both of them nodded, but Mai had an unsure look on her face. "Won't a scythe be a difficult weapon to use on the battlefield? I mean, she'll be off balance and she'll have to keep the blade from dipping down as well."

"Nonsense," the clerk said, "it'll be a bit more difficult at first, perhaps, because she'll have to get used to the weight and balance of the blade, but she'll be able to use it just as well as any other person uses their katana. Trust me, I know these weapons, and besides, that one chose her."

"Alright," Mai said, still a bit suspicious, "I'll take your word for it."

"Good," the clerk said, shooing them out of the weapon room, "I'm sure you three still have many things to do, so you must be on your way. I also have a mission to attend to, so if you need anything from the store, ask my brother, Kenji. When you need me in the future, my name is Suzuka."

With that, she flew off, and the three realized that they were now standing outside of the building completely. "Well," Naruto mused, "I guess when you've gotta go you've gotta go. What next, sensei?"

"Now we get to go by the clan compound for the Kitsune family," Mai answered. She thought for a moment, and looked back towards the tower in the center of the village, then shrugged, "and I completely forgot to verify with Kenji-sama that you were actually staying with them, so I guess I'll just ask them when we get there. Let's go, you two."

After ten minutes of walking, they came to a rather large compound surrounded by dark red walls with a gold, sleeping fox painted on one area of the wall. Sitting on top of the wall, in the center of the area the fox was painted on, was a person with red fox ears whittling away at a block of wood with a knife. When they got within ten meters of the compound, the man's ears twitched, and he glanced up at them. He didn't pay them any attention, though, until they were standing right in front of the wall, at which time he quickly put away the wood and the knife and hopped down from the wall.

"So, are these two the new clan members that we were supposed to be receiving?" the man asked, looking at Naruto and Rai.

"They sure are," Mai answered, smiling, "they will be staying with your clan right? I kinda forgot to make sure with the leader."

"Yup, come on in," he replied, but was cut off from saying anything else by Naruto.

"But there isn't any door," Naruto observed, "and I can't jump that high to get over the wall."

"Of course there's a door," he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "What do you call that?" He motioned to the fox on the wall behind him, as if to prove his point.

"A wall," Naruto answered. "A very tall wall."

The guy just shook his head hopelessly and clapped his hands once, and a huge section of the wall slid open, revealing the entrance to the compound. He smiled at the shocked look on Naruto's face, and led the three of them into the compound.

As they were walking in, Naruto's attention was caught by a redheaded girl who was training with nunchaku in one corner of the yard. When she realized that there were people going into the compound, she stopped to look at them, but continued staring at Naruto the entire way into the building. Naruto wondered who the girl was, but said nothing as they entered the main building.

-------------------End-------------------------

_That's it for this chapter. Next time on Adventures of a Half-Demon, meeting the Kitsune Clan, clan dinners, and a month of training._


	2. Chapter 2

_Adventures of a Half-Demon_

**Disclaimer: This story has already been disclaimed, please see chapter one.**

---------------Begin AOHD: Chapter 2------------------------------

Naruto looked around in amazement as they walked through the building, being led by the guard to the clan head. He'd never seen some place so big before. Everything was done in wood or tones that meshed very well with it, and it was all very nicely set up. The dining room looked like it could seat numerous families easily with four large rectangular tables that stood in a square shape on an ornate tan rug in the middle of the floor. When they passed by the kitchen, he noticed that even though it looked welcoming, it was almost like a restaurant kitchen with the six burner stove and the large counters and sinks. He'd never scene such big rooms before, with the exception of the time that he'd decided to 'refurbish' the council meeting room as retaliation for them constantly giving Old Man Hokage a hard time.

Soon enough they were swallowed up by a very tall hallway that was large enough to let two people through shoulder to shoulder but still small enough to feel like the hallway was hugging you, and emerged in front of a door at the first bend. The door, like everything else in the building, was large in stature, and was made from a dark wood, which went well with the shadows in that section of the hallway, but stood out a bit from the lighter tones of everything else around it. The person that was leading them knocked three times on the door and announced, "Kiyoshi-sama, the children you foresaw have arrived, do you wish me to send them in?"

After a moment's pause, a reply came through the door. "Yeah, go ahead and send them in so I can talk to them, Ichiro, and while you're at it, stop showing off to them, you know all that -sama crap makes me feel old. I'm only 51 you know."

Ichiro grinned sheepishly and put a hand on the wall to the left of the door at head level, which glowed blue for a moment before the door slid into the wall, allowing entrance into the room. "Okay, go on you three, I have to get back to the gate."

Naruto and Rai nodded their thanks to Ichiro, while Mai smiled at him, and all three of them walked into the room, the door shutting behind them. The office was as big as they had expected it to be, given the rest of the house, and the desk that sat directly in front of the door was large enough to almost be able to double as a bed were a mattress present. Scattered across the desk were folders and piles of papers, as well as a large coffee cup that spoke of long hours sifting through said paperwork. The man that was sitting at the desk, staring skeptically through his glasses at one piece of paper, had brown hair that could almost pass for red, and had a very muscular build for someone who appeared to spend his days sitting behind a desk. The three just stood there for what seemed like a short eternity, waiting to be addressed.

"So, tell me," he said, glancing over the top of his glasses at Naruto, "how did you like life back in Konoha?"

"Konoha was great," Naruto replied immediately, almost as if it were some strange reflex, but then he paused for a moment and added, "but the people there didn't like me so much. They hurt Rai because of me."

Kiyoshi frowned down at the paper and slid it back into a folder in front of him before returning his attention fully to them. "Well, I promise you, here you will be safe. So, firstly, I must welcome you to our village, and to the home of our clan. Our clan, like the Ookami Clan, values family above all else, and as such, we like to dinners together with the whole clan at least twice a week, and breakfast will be shared together with your immediate family. We all pitch in to any work that needs to be done around the house, and we all share any rewards that may come to us as a family. The rest of the time is given to you to use as you see fit."

"Will we be staying here?" Rai asked, looking up at him with a questioning expression on her face.

"Yes," Kiyoshi answered, "you'll be staying here, under the care of me and my wife. Since you're too young to live by yourselves, and since you are from an outside village, we'll take care of two problems at once by adopting you. That way we'll be able to look after you and keep an eye on you."

"Wait, you're adopting us?" Naruto interrupted, a shocked tone evident in his voice. "Why would you want to adopt us, you've only just met us?"

"Like I said," Kiyoshi replied patiently, "you two are far too young to be by yourselves, and you're new to our village, so you have to be looked after by someone. As the head of our clan, I'm in the best position to take care of you, so I'm the one who is going to adopt you."

"Oh," Naruto replied, "I guess that makes sense, then."

"Right," Kiyoshi continued, "since you two have nothing other than the clothes on your backs, you will be provided with the essentials, namely hygiene products, scrolls and pencils, five sets of casual clothes, two sets of formal attire, and a small weekly allowance until you are able to make your own money. Any questions?"

After waiting for a moment to make sure they didn't have any questions, Mai spoke up. "Would you mind if these two joined our family for dinner tonight? My mom wanted to introduce him to the rest of our family."

"No, not at all," Kiyoshi replied, rubbing his chin. "In fact, how about you invite your family over for dinner, so he'll get to meet both of our families tonight?"

"Okay," Mai replied, "I don't think that there will be any problem with that. I'll inform my mother, and if no one has any issue with it we'll see you tonight, then."

"Good," Kiyoshi said, with an air of finality, signaling that the conversation was coming to a close. "Well, if there's nothing else to talk about, I'll let you get back to your home to inform your family of our dinner arrangements, and I'll get these two acquainted with their new home."

"We'll see you tonight." Mai bowed, then turned around and tapped her foot on an area directly to the left of the door, causing herself to be instantly transported to the front gates of the compound. Originally, it was part of a system that prevented people from Shunshining around the place, and the doors were all made to where they would be near impossible to knock down, while the inhabitants of the house would be able to move freely and stealthily throughout the house, in case anyone were to attack. In practice, however, most of the inhabitants just used it to teleport around and scare unsuspecting guests or family members, or to use it to sneak out to the refrigerator for a late night meal.

"Alright, you two," Kiyoshi said, getting out of his chair, "let's take you for a tour of the place, shall we?"

"If I may ask," Rai started out of the blue as they headed deeper into the hallway that had taken them to Kiyoshi's office, "why were we placed directly into a squad instead of into the academy? Back in Konoha we were only half way through the curriculum. Are we ready for this?"

"Good question!" Kiyoshi smiled, "you see, around here, things are a bit different. As a village we are a bit small, and most of our ninja are already in higher ranks. Since we aren't exactly 'human' we don't have as pressing a need to continue the village through the next generation, so there aren't as many young ninja." He paused to see if they understood what he was talking about. Being the head of the clan and dealing with children didn't exactly go hand in hand from his experience. Seeing that they didn't look confused, he continued. "When we do have children that want to become ninja, and when other, smaller, families have children that will become ninja, the four clans will usually get together and form a small class with all of those children. Members of each of the families, including Kenji's family, even though his clan is still scattered throughout the lands, will take turns teaching the kids what they need to know, and eventually they will be divided into teams and sent off to continue their education under a Jounin."

"Shouldn't we do that, then?" Naruto asked, still not exactly sure what that had to do with their situation.

"Well, first, only the basic ninja skills are taught in those tutoring sessions, and they generally only last for a year. It is with your sensei that you will be shaped into decent fighters. Our village doesn't really see purpose in holding you inside of a classroom for four years. Second, the current class will be done in about a month, so there isn't any point in putting you in it now. It will do you more good to train for a month to get you up to where you should be."

"Oh, okay," Rai piped up again, "that makes sense. I bet Naruto at least will be glad to get away from those tests."

"Don't even remind me of those," Naruto grumbled. "Those tests were impossible! Besides, what's the point of doing written work when you're going to be out on the battlefield for the rest of your life anyway?"

Kiyoshi just chuckled at them. "Don't discount it completely, Naruto. Knowledge is the most important thing you can hold in the world of the shinobi. You won't always be able to go into any situation hacking and slashing. On espionage missions, you will have to use everything you've ever learned to blend in and keep yourself from being found out. If you forget an important piece of information, or if you were given incorrect information, it can cost you the lives of everyone you hold dear to you, and can cause the downfall of an entire village. You wouldn't want that to happen, would you?"

Naruto paled at the thought of this, that one little slip could cost him the lives of everyone around him. He had already almost lost the only person he held dear to him, and he vowed never to let that happen again. "No, I won't let something like that happen! I have to be strong and protect those I care about, and if that means putting up with books then I'll do it."

"Good," Kiyoshi smiled, "wise choice. Now then, you've already seen the kitchen and dining area. These two rooms will be for you two. Naruto, you get the one to my right; Rai, yours is on the left. Over here is the restroom, and down the hall are the rooms where my wife and I stay, as well as our two children's rooms."

Kiyoshi turned around and led them back down the hallway and out of the house. Their next stop was another building towards the center of the compound, past buildings that Kiyoshi identified as housing for the other families in their clan. When they arrived in the building, they found it to be a library, filled with bookshelves and scroll stands. One shelf in particular was filled with what looked to be journals, with different sets identified by the types of journals and a symbol that was at the bottom of each of them.

"Over here are books about various ninja arts," Kiyoshi said, gesturing to the bookshelves in the center of the front aisle, "and over there are journals written by members of our clan who were in the process of exploring the arts or creating techniques. Most of them were written by our previous clan leader, and have the golden fang symbol etched into the bottom of the spine."

"So we can read through the journals and see what was happening during their lives, like how they got where they did?" Naruto asked, now interested.

"Not exactly," Kiyoshi answered. "These are more like scientific journals, not diaries. A few people have allowed their personal daily journals to be put in here, well, two people, that is. One of the two people is Shiori, the mother of the person who led you into my office. She decided not to ascend to anything above the rank of Chuunin, but she has an extensive record of successful escort missions, including escorts into hostile territories, and her journals are rather entertaining to read. The second is a civilian in our clan who has kept a journal for the past century or so, and her journals are basically a history of every bit of gossip and happenings in our clan since she started keeping it."

"Oh," Naruto said, slightly disappointed that there weren't any more awesome journals in the library. He decided that he would still have to take a look at the journals kept by 'Shiori', since traveling around the elemental countries did make for an interesting story. Imagine being stuck in the middle of enemy territory, safely escorting a princess back to her home!

"If you're interested in other reading like that," Kiyoshi continued, "the Ookami clan has a bigger collection of journals than we've got. We were never really into keeping stuff like that, but they've always done it so their children and grandchildren could benefit from their experiences. Anyway, back here we also have a small collection of adventure books and romance books, and fantasy stories as well. Our library is small, but if you want more you can always head to the villages main library. We also can go to the Ookami library, since they are our sister clan, and we share access to most of our clan facilities."

"Wait," Rai spoke up, "you said she's been keeping a journal for a century? How has she been alive that long?"

"Oh, that's simple," Kiyoshi replied, "we have life spans that are huge compared to a human's. Admittedly, most of us are young compared to others, but so far only the younger generations agreed to join our village. The older people felt they were safer in hiding, that way there wasn't a central spot that people could attack and cripple our races."

"I see," Rai said, "so does everyone here live that long?"

"Not everyone," Kiyoshi answered. "For example, the Hyuuga Clan live normal lifespans. Some of us have tried to figure out a way to extend their lives more to that of ours, but so far nothing can be done. Because of that, the clan mostly discourages marriage to any of the other big clans, because the Hyuuga mate will inevitably die very early on in our lives. Still, currently only one generation of Hyuuga has passed away in our village, since we've only been around for a little while."

Rai frowned at this, but didn't say anything. It was a sad fact of life that one part of the village was forced to die early, and not something that she would bring up, lest she open more wounds. As they were led out of the library and back to the building, she thought about this issue, but she couldn't think of anything that could help with the situation, so she decided to let it drop.

"And this is where we part company," Kiyoshi said once they were standing in front of their rooms again. "You two should probably rest and get cleaned up before dinner tonight. It will be at seven, and one of us will come get you before hand to make sure you get there. See you two later."

Once they both went into their rooms, he turned and walked away, leaving them to their own devices. Rai went straight over and laid down on her bed to get some rest, but Naruto decided to figure out how the doors worked. He didn't see any buttons on the wall that controlled the door, so how did people open and close them by putting their hands on the wall? He tried putting his hand on the wall in the same spot they did it, but nothing happened. Frowning, he put his hand on the wall again, a little harder this time.

Just about then, the red haired girl that he'd seen training out in the yard walked passed his room, and stopped to look at him, wondering what he was doing. "Why are you slamming your hand on the wall?"

"I'm trying to figure out how to close these doors," Naruto replied, frowning at the wall. "Everyone just puts their hand on them and they close, but I can't figure out how they do it."

"Oh, that's simple," the girl said, smiling at him, "just channel some chakra into it, and it will open and close. Like this." She grinned at him and then closed the door.

"Okay," Naruto muttered to himself. "I can do this, just channel chakra into the wall and I'll open the door, otherwise I'll be stuck in here for the rest of the day." With that thought in mind, he put his hand back onto the wall and pushed chakra into it, causing the door to retract into the wall. "Thanks. These doors are so much different from what I'm used to. I haven't ever seen doors that go _into_ the wall before."

"Yeah, the doors in this compound are a lot different from most doors," the girl replied. "The closest things to them are the locks on the doors at the wolf compound. Where are you from? I haven't seen you here before."

"I'm from Konoha," Naruto answered, "but my new sensei picked me up and brought me back here. I guess it's a good thing too, because I ran away, and I had no where else to go. My name is Naruto, by the way."

"I'm Ryoko," she introduced herself, "but how are you like us if you lived in Konoha? I didn't think any of our kind were allowed there?"

"Oh, there aren't any there that I know of," Naruto answered, scratching his head, "and I have no clue how I became one. I just kinda woke up like this after my friend and I nearly got killed." This wasn't exactly true, but he still wasn't ready to tell anyone about the Kyuubi, so it was as good an explanation as any.

"That was lucky. Well, I have to go get cleaned up now, but is it alright if I come by later to hang out with you?"

"Yeah, that sounds great," Naruto said, smiling at meeting someone else his age that might become his friend so soon. "I'll be in here until dinner, so if the door's closed just knock."

As she said goodbye and walked away, Naruto waved at her and closed his door back, turning around and walking to his bed, where he would curl up on it and fall asleep for the next few hours.

------------break--------------------

"Hey, Naruto!" Naruto woke up to the voice of the girl he'd met earlier, Ryoko, calling to him from the other side of the door. He stretched and yawned. "You awake? Dad says we're having dinner tonight with the Wolf Clan; you don't want to be late, do you?"

"I'm awake," he called back, yawning again. Sluggishly, he got up and walked over to the door, putting his hand on the wall and opening it. He still thought it odd that the doors here opened like that. "It's still an hour before we have to go to dinner, why are you worrying about it now?"

"You aren't going to go wearing those clothes, are you?" Naruto looked down at his clothes, which she was pointing at, to realize that he was wearing a bloodstained, cut up t-shirt and pants. He blushed slightly in embarrassment, wondering why no one had said anything about it. Did someone already know and tell no one to ask? Was it even possible that they knew before?

"Uh, good point," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Problem is that I don't have any other clothes."

"That's why I'm here," Ryoko explained. "Dad said that we needed to go by the tailor and pick up something for you to wear tonight."

"Oh, okay then," Naruto said as she grabbed his wrist and lead him down the hallway. Silently, he was led out of the main building to the tailor's shop, which happened to sit just behind the library.

"Hello," the shopkeeper greeted as they walked into the store, "how may I assist you two today? Oh, and who is this, I don't believe I've seen you before, young man."

"This is Naruto," Ryoko offered, before Naruto had a chance to open his mouth. "He's new here, and we need to get him something to wear for dinner tonight."

"I won't be able to hem anything for him by then," the tailor replied, "but you're welcome to take a look at whatever is out on the shelves."

"Okay," Ryoko said, nodding. "Come on Naruto, lets see what they've got for you."

Ryoko dragged Naruto over to one rack full of clothes and started digging through them. She held one and then another up to Naruto before either deciding that she didn't like it or that it wouldn't fit him and putting it back. Finally, she decided on a purple kimono with the white profile of a fox on the back, its muzzle and tail stretching further around.

"What about that orange one you had earlier?" Naruto asked, not too happy that he was going to be trading in his favorite color for this one.

"You should get used to wearing darker clothing," Ryoko lectured, "especially if you're going to become a ninja. Besides, that one is way too big for you. If you really want it you can get it tomorrow when we come to get the rest of your clothes."

"Okay," Naruto replied, happy that he'd get some orange clothing again tomorrow.

"Now go try that on," Ryoko ordered, pushing him in the direction of the dressing rooms.

"But I don't know how to put one of these on," Naruto complained. "I've never worn one of these before."

"I can help you with that," the nearby voice of the tailor called out, cutting off anything further that Naruto was going to say. He walked around the counter and led Naruto into one of the changing stalls. He instructed Naruto to take off his shirt so he didn't get the kimomo dirty, but since his pants didn't have very much blood on them he let Naruto keep those on. "So how did your shirt get so bloody, anyway?"

"Oh, um, I was climbing a tree and I kinda fell out of it," Naruto lied, rubbing the back of his head and laughing nervously. "I didn't have a chance to change my shirt after that, so I was stuck wearing this one."

"Fair enough," the tailor said, nodding. "Now, first you put the kimono on, and you wrap the right side over you and then the left side over the right. See? Now you tie these together, and then you pull the kimono up around your waist so it comes down to your ankles and tie this. Last, you have to tie these together. See? Think you can do it now?"

"Um," Naruto said, scratching his head, "I think so, but why does it have to be so confusing?"

"You'll get used to it after you've done it a couple of times," the tailor assured him. "Now you need an obi to tie around the kimono and you'll be set."

"Can I get an orange one?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"I don't see why not," the tailor replied, leading him back out of the stall. "So, Ryoko, what do you think?"

"You look good, Naruto," she complimented him. "Now we just have to get you an obi and some new shoes."

"I'll go get the obi for you two while you look at the sandals," the tailor replied, walking off to another corner of the store.

---------------break------------------------

About fifteen minutes later, Naruto and Ryoko walked out of the shop, Naruto wearing just the purple kimono with a white under-kimono (Nagajuban), the orange obi, and a straw pair of Zori sandals with the traditional divided toe socks, and carrying his old clothes, sans his shirt, which the tailor got rid of, in a cloth bag.

"So, how do you like your new clothes, Naruto?" Ryoko asked, turning to look at Naruto in his new outfit.

"It feels odd," Naruto replied honestly. "It's a lot different from what I normally wear, but I like it. Thanks for helping me out, Ryoko-chan."

"No problem," she smiled, "and you'll get used to how the kimono feels. I personally like these better than shirt and pants."

"Don't I still need to shower first, though?" Naruto asked, realizing that everything he'd been through in the past day had left him rather dirty.

"No time for that," Ryoko replied, looking towards the sun that was sinking lower towards the horizon. "We'll only have a little time once we get back. My mom should be helping your friend into some of my old clothes for tonight. You'll have to worry about that after dinner is over. You have to show up on time because everyone is coming here to meet you and your friend."

This made Naruto a bit nervous that he and Rai were going to be the center of attention, especially since the only experiences he'd had with crowds were all bad ones. Seeing how nice everyone here was, though, he decided not to say anything, hoping that things would go differently tonight.

-------------break--------------------

"Hey, Naruto," Rai called out as he walked into the dining area, about ten minutes before dinner was supposed to begin. The room was already crowded, but not everyone was there yet, including the Kitsune Clan's leader, Kiyoshi. He did recognize his Sensei and the person she'd introduced as her mother, though. "Come over here and sit down, I have something to tell you."

Naruto moved over to where she was, near the head of the table beside some lady Naruto assumed was the clan's head's wife, and took the chair beside her. "Yeah, what is it?"

"I was talking with Akemi-sama," Rai started, motioning to the lady beside her, "and I asked her why everyone seemed to know that we were coming before we actually got here. She says that there are people that can sense when a new person is made into a Kitsune, like fortune tellers or something!"

"Actually," Kyoko, who was the head of the Ookami Clan, and was sitting nearby, interrupted, "they can sense when people are inducted into the clan. Usually they are the clan's elders."

"Why would they sense people being brought into the clan?" Naruto wore a confused look over his face, not understanding why it was important.

"Well, look at it this way," she explained, "say that someone is brought into the Kitsune clan, in this case, you. You were in danger where you were, and when you came into the village, you looked like you'd come off of the battlefield. It was important that you were found and brought to our village as quickly as possible, or there was the chance that you would be found by someone who would kill you. It is the clan's job to protect its members, and because of this, we have to be able to keep track of where they are."

"What I don't understand, though," Rai said, "is how we became members of this clan at all. We weren't inducted or anything, and when we were brought here they just gave us rooms and told us we were being adopted."

"I suppose I should give you an explanation, then," Kyoko mused. "You two were both human before yesterday, were you not?" Seeing them both nod, she continued. "Well, it is not known outside of the walls of your village, but when the elders of your clan found out that you were inducted into the clan, they also found out that you were the container of the Kyuubi. I know because they told me, but no one else with the exception of your clan and my daughter and I know. At any rate, somehow, the seal containing him was weakened, and he was able to turn you both into Kitsune. When he did, you were inducted into the clan because the person that changed you was in the clan. Usually this rule applies to newborn children, but you two are a special case. As it stands, only a full demon can do that, and only with young children, so we don't see it often."

Naruto's head was starting to spin with all of this information. Here it was that complete strangers knew who he was and what he was, and that because the Kyuubi changed him to save his friend's life, he was brought into a clan that he'd never even heard of before. Rai, however, who was slightly less overwhelmed because she didn't have to bear with the burden of the Jinchuuriki, had a comtemplative look on her face.

"Why were you told if no one else knows?" Rai asked, looking questioningly at the woman.

"Bright girl," complemented Kyoko, grinning. "You just may turn out to be quite the ninja one day. Well, as it turns out, I happen to be the wife of the Kyuubi." She chuckled at seeing both of the children sitting there with their jaws practically on the table in shock. "It's quite an interesting story, actually."

"First, you should know that the Kyuubi was completely unwilling," Kyoko recounted, the grin never leaving her face. "After all, he was a prideful, centuries old demon, and he was nobility on top of that, and he always swore that he would only keep mistresses, and that he would never marry. His ego was only fanned by the fact that any girl that he wanted would throw themselves at his feet. Well, that was until he met me. We hit it off well at first and became friends. He was quite the charmer, but sure enough he tried again and again to get me into his bed. Well, I had a history of my own, and I wasn't about to be the toy of some pompous demon, even if I did like him. I turned him down every time he suggested it, until one night we eventually came to meet over a game of poker. We were the last two at the table, and though I was ahead of him as far as chips went, he touted that he'd never been beaten before, so he made a wager with me. If I wanted, I could ask any one thing of him that I wanted, but if he won, I had to finally agree to sleep with him."

She paused here to observe their faces. Mai was smiling fondly at the tale, already knowing how it turned out, while both Naruto and Rai were listening intently, thoughtful looks on their faces. "Well, a bit confident from all the wins I had racked up, I accepted. Well, the deck was shuffled, and the hand played out. He kept all of the cards in his hand, but I had to draw two from the deck. When he laid down his hand, he was grinning like the devil himself. He had a full house, with three queens and two aces. He was sure of his victory, but I only laughed at him. He accused me of bluffing, until I laid down my hand, a royal flush, which was the highest hand in the game. He couldn't believe it, and I still remember the look on his face when he realized he had lost."

"So what did you win?" Naruto asked after she paused again, even though it was blatantly obvious, just because the suspense was killing him and he wanted to hurry the story along.

"Well, I figured that I had one chance to put him in his place, and that was it, in front of everyone who had just watched him lose his undefeated record. I asked for the one thing that he said he would never give. I asked him to take me as his mate. He couldn't believe it, and he tried to sway me otherwise by promising me anything from power to kingdoms to even never asking me to become his mistress again, but I held firm. If I had let him talk me out of it, I never would have been able to live it down. As it was, though, we eventually came to love each other. Mai-chan here is the youngest of our children. It actually came as quite a shock to me when he disappeared one day while he was on a mission. He was the head of the Kitsune clan, so it was rare for him to take missions outside of the village at all, but he insisted it was something only he could take care of. Later, rumors came of a great fox demon being killed at Konoha, but no one who knew him believed that it was possible that that was him they spoke of. I guess that we were wrong, though."

"Wow," was all Naruto could think to say. As odd as it was though, he couldn't help but grin at this news that the "King of Demons" had been beaten by his sensei's mom in a simple card game and was roped into becoming her husband.

"Well, that will have to be enough of that for now," she said gesturing to the head of the table, where Kiyoshi was sitting. "Everyone is here, it's time to start the dinner."

"Right you are," Kiyoshi broke in, taking that as his cue. His next words were directed at everyone. "Okay, today is a special day for both of our clans, as two more members are added to our ranks, and one of our own has been found. Now that they are safely back in our walls, I should announce that our two new members, Naruto-kun and Rai-chan, have officially been made members of the village and that they wish to enroll in the ninja program. I also am happy to inform you that the last head of our clan has been found. It seems that the stories that we had chosen not to believe about Konoha defeating a rampaging fox demon were true, and that it was none other than our own clan's head and the mate of the Ookami Clan's head. After he was defeated, he was sealed into Naruto-kun. This news is not entirely good, but hopefully now that he is back in some manner the questions we have can be answered and we can move on past the issue."

The dinner stretched on for a few hours, and though Naruto was nervous at first due to his secret being aired out in front of everyone, the fact he was sitting across from the Kyuubi's wife kept him from running for long enough for him to realize that no one seemed to care about it. In fact, everyone seemed to be happy that he was the Kyuubi's container, which was something that he couldn't understand thanks to his time in Konoha. By the end of the dinner, he had met a lot of people, including a man named Gorou, who Kyoko said was her nephew, and Akemi, who was Kiyoshi's wife. He found himself sad that everyone would have to go home just as he was starting to feel at home with them, but the fact that everyone was nearby in the village made up for it, as he knew he was always free to visit them when he had the time.

-------------End-----------------------

A/N: So there you have it. Sorry it took so long, but this was a hard chapter to write, and I thought it was kinda dry. Should you think that it's going a bit slow, I assure you that it's necessary. There is a lot of information to introduce with a new village and new characters that none of you have met before, so I'm trying to get you used to them at a pace that will allow you to remember them. If any of you have any questions about them, or if you think that I'm not explaining something well enough, feel free to shoot me a review. I'm hoping that you guys won't be daunted by a primarily OC story, and that this story will become something that people will rank as one of those stories that they would recommend to others.

_The Wandering Scribe_


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